


To The King's Bedchambers

by Tevlyn_Tauly



Series: Herpetology [5]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Assassination Attempt(s), Gen, Headcanon, REPTILES, Snakes, herpetology, venomous snakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 09:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17895707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tevlyn_Tauly/pseuds/Tevlyn_Tauly
Summary: Regis finds a very unwelcome surprise and requests assistance from the local snake wrangler.





	To The King's Bedchambers

 Regis was frozen in place, wearing his bedclothes and having just pulled his bedsheets back. A snake was curled in the middle of his bed, dark fading into a light brown to white at the head, eyes staring up at him.

It started to shift, curling into an S shape, and he remembered the warning from his son's best friend and stepped back and away as fast as he could. He was lucky, as the snake struck and missed him by a hair, and he shouted for Clarus immediately.

"Regis!" Clarus' hands gripped his underarms and helped him up from the floor where he had fallen to get away. With his King on his feet, the Shield pulled his sword. "Stand back."

"Wait! There may be some things we can learn from it. Call for Noctis' friend," Regis declared to the guards by the door. One of them bowed and ran off; leaving the other to come over and ensure the snake got nowhere near the King.

"Good thing I stayed to clear away our glasses in the study," Clarus said as he took Regis' arm to guide him back to the study, leaving the guard to watch the snake as it curled up on the bed again. "You weren't bit at all?"

Regis shook his head. "I fell before it could bite." He saw more guards gather by the door and waved them into his bedchambers. He expected they would be checking for evidence of who had left the snake in his bed, and make sure no others were left anywhere. His hands shook from the adrenaline crash, steadied only by Clarus cupping his hand around a glass and helping him to sip the water.

Thundering footsteps heralded Cor's arrival, the Marshall breathing heavily as he crossed the study and knelt in front of his King. "I only just got the notification. A snake? Did it bite you? Is it dead?"

"I'm fine, Cor. I fell, but that was much better than the alternative," Regis relaxed into his high-backed armchair, sipping his water again. "I want more information on it, so I've called for young Prompto. Perhaps he can give us some insight."

"I've only heard a few things about him and the reptiles. Do you think he can offer anything significant?" Cor asked, standing.

"We can only wait and find out."

 

He was pulled from his sofa, where he had wrapped himself in his covers to watch some drama show while dealing with a bout of Noctis induced insomnia, by the loud banging at his door. Prompto pulled on his glasses and yawned as he went to answer, yelping at the force of two Crownsguard pushing their way in as he opened it. "Hey!"

"Prompto Argentum? The King is in need of your expertise immediately, concerning a snake," one of the guards snapped. "Gather what you need."

He barely had time to register the fact he was just in sweatpants and a tank top as he tumbled down the hallway to grab up a plastic box and a breathable bag to put the snake in. As he woke up properly he realised the implications of the King needing his help at the late hour and stopped off down in his venomous snake collection, grabbing an anti-venom kit just in case. He ran back up and grabbed the bag and box, taking it through to the living room where the guards waited impatiently. He shoved the box into the hold of one of them, slid on a pair of flips flops and grabbed his phone, wallet, and keys, as well as a pack of gum, and then pushed them out the door. "Let’s go!"

They bundled him into the car and the guard driving took no time in speeding off.

"Any idea on the type of snake? Where it was found? What it looked like?" Prompto asked texting Noctis to warn him he was summoned to the King.

"We expect you can tell us the type, and it was found in the King's bed," the guard in the passenger seat answered.

"The bed? Must have been placed there, usually, that is too much work for a snake when they can go under it. Know what colour it is or anything?" Prompto asked.

"Dark, but its head was fading into light brown, with a white-ish nose," the passenger answered again.

He tried to think of any that he knew in the region that would be those colours but was coming up empty even as they pulled up to the citadel and he was helped out of the car. The guard carried the box again, and Prompto held his belongings and the anti-venom case to his chest as they were headed straight through security and towards the Royal Wing. Funny, he had only ever seen Noctis' suite, and then here he was being pushed into the King's personal study. "Uh, your Majesty?" He offered a nervous bow of respect. "I bought a kit, in case anyone got bitten?"

"No need for formalities, Prompto, thank you for coming. No-one has been bitten yet, thank the Astrals, but I was hoping you could perhaps tell us some things about our reptile weapon?" Regis asked kindly.

"Okay, uh, someone lead the way?"

Clarus put a hand gently on his shoulder and guided him through to the bedroom. "Has it moved?" The Shield asked the guards in the room.

"No, sir. Still where it was found."

Prompto moved forward and the guard was ordered to step away. The sheet had partially fallen onto the snake and he could only see the dark sides and tail, so carefully he moved the sheet. He recognised it immediately, it came from multiple areas in Lucis but had not been found anywhere near Insomnia before. "Oh boy. Uh, so," he jumped as the King stepped up behind them, but his gaze did not leave the snake. Fucking hells. "Right, so, uh, this is a Coastal Taipan. No way did this just slither in here, as you can guess - we haven't found it anywhere in the regions just outside Insomnia, but they are up by the Vesperpool and other hot and damp areas. And in forests. So probably near the Chocobo Post being the closest."

"I see. How dangerous are they?" The King asked.

"Usually they prefer to try and escape if there's a threat, but they get really aggressive when cornered, and that’s when they strike, usually repeatedly." Prompto nudged his glasses back up his nose. "As for their venom, pretty bad. Victims might get huge headaches, vomiting and nausea, convulsions, paralysis, internal bleeding, muscle tissue being destroyed and kidney damage. Severe envenomation - can be dead within a half hour. The average is two and a half hours, depending on the nature of the bite, health of the victim, stuff like that. But, untreated, it's 100% fatal - it bites to kill every time."

This was definitely an assassination attempt, not just an attempt to make the King ill for a time.

"I see. Thank you, Prompto. What should we do with it?" The King asked.

"I'll get it into the bag. I can take it and milk it to provide the hospital with the venom to make more of the anti-venom, or you might want to kill it. But don't let the fangs touch you, snakes head are known to still strike even after beheading." Prompto bit his lip. "It can be taken to a rescue to be released again; if that's something you want to do too."

"We should likely have a set of anti-venom in the Citadel for emergencies. I will have some Kingsglaive assigned to you so you can take this one to be milked and then have it released by the Vesperpool," Regis declared.

Prompto nodded. Best for them to be sure the snake did not get stolen or reused as a weapon.

"Cor, see to it that there are Glaive ready to escort him and guard the snake at young Prompto's home until it is time for it to be released," Regis ordered kindly. "Prompto, what do you need to capture this one?"

"There's a snake hook in Noct's suite, I was showing it off as its new and I left it behind, meant to get it next time we were here. I can use that, and a big bin to hold the bag open in so no-one gets bit as I put the snake in."

Regis nodded and nudged Prompto. "Clarus will watch it, you fetch this hook and I'll arrange the bin and bag."

Prompto took the chance and nodded, running to Noct's suite. He found the hook, brand new, on the coffee table in the Prince's sitting area, and grabbed it up, running back to find a large, sturdy wash basket was being used to clip the bag partly open, ready. "Looks good. You'll want to get well out of the way. I don't know how long this one is, but they can grow up to six feet long. Nine feet was the longest found so far. So they have range."

Clarus shuffled the King back towards the door, and the guards spread out around to give the blond room as he moved around the bed so he could grab the tail.

Prompto had the hook ready and quickly picked the Taipan up by the tail, using the hook to keep its head pointed well away from him. It writhed and hissed; curling to strike at anyone it could seemingly get close to, though it definitely tried to strike at Prompto most.

Not wasting time, he lifted the snake up, using the hook still, and slid it into the bag, immediately letting go of its tail to let it go to the bottom and using the hook on the outside to keep it pressed down as he twisted the top closed and tied it off. "The box, quick. This thing can still bite through the bag if it wants to."

The box and lid were slid over and he hauled the bag out of the wash basket and into the box, putting the lid on securely. He had never felt so shaky after capturing a snake before, but he put it down to the fact this one had been used as part of an assassination attempt on his King, his best friend's Dad.

He was pale, and sweat beaded on his forehead, but Prompto was surprised to feel the King's hands rest on his shoulders moments after the snake was secured.

"Are you alright, Prompto?" Regis asked, his tone reminding the blond of fatherly bonding.

"Ye- uhm - yeah," he coughed. "I've just not had to grab a Taipan before and I was worried it would get you somehow. But it's trapped now so it's no problem."

Regis' smile made him look younger and Prompto knew Noctis would have liked to have seen it. "Then thank you even more, for taking the risk. If you were not such an expert, one of the guards could have mishandled it and been bitten, and we wouldn't know so much."

"Everyone's pretty good; they've just not trained to deal with reptiles as I did. I'm sure they'd be fine with most of them," Prompto blushed.

"Still, thank you." Two Kingsglaive entered the room and Regis nodded to them. "Prompto, these two are going to take you home with the Taipan, and they will guard it to ensure no-one tries to steal it. Once you're able to have it resettled, after milking it, then they will escort you for your safety."

"Sure. Thank you, your Majesty." Prompto yawned, energy fading from all of the excitement.

"Get home and get some sleep, Prompto. I do hope you will join Noctis and me for dinner this week."

Prompto grinned. "I'd love to."

He picked up the box and put his belongings on top, the hook resting carefully, and with a final nod and smile to the King, he left with the Kingsglaive.

"I swear that boy is something else," Clarus chuckled.

"We would have him no other way." Regis watched the boy leave with a soft smile before he returned to the hell of bureaucracy and more paperwork caused by the finding of a dangerous snake in his bed.


End file.
